Dark Quest (22 page)

General Clark started using mugs as the different army groups and moved them around the table. “Our fifteen hundred men from the west coast will join the five hundred from Dalek. Meanwhile the three thousand men from Danver Shores will move west to attack Southland from the East, here. Now, these forces in Cleb will sweep southwest to engage their third division. At the same time, these two thousand men from Dalek will sweep eastward. Their five thousand-man army will be wedged between eight thousand men. The five thousand they have in Southland will not move for fear of being attacked from the rear by the Danver Shores group.”

The General paused to allow his brilliant plan to sink in. King Byron finally asked, “Why give them Southland in the first place?”

The General was pleased. It was a good question and one he had asked himself. “Your Highness, they don’t want Southland. If we forbid them to have it by the might of our Army, they will join the third division and sweep into Dalek. We won’t be able to stop them. On the other hand, even though they don’t want it, once they possess Southland they will be reticent to give it up, until it’s too late.”

Oscar liked this game. It was a bit like outfoxing your business opponent. “Okay, General, what if the first division in Melbin decides to head westward to attack our Danver Shores group. Won’t our men then be caught in a vise?”

General Clark warmed to the question. “Yes, indeed, Prince Oscar. That is where our Red Swords come in. Should the Sordoans abandon Melbin, the Red Swords will move in behind them. The Danver Shores group can split their attention between the two groups because it will not take much to keep the Southland garrison from moving out. The Colonel will attest that the worst place in the world to have four thousand Red Swords is behind you.” The General laughed heartily.

“The one potential problem,” stated the General, “is if our naval attack fails. If the Sordoan Navy can reach Tagaret and pin down the Red Swords, we could have serious problems. Admiral Hill, that task is yours and I wish you well with it.”

“General Clark,” Admiral Hill began, “the Royal Navy of Targa will soon be ready. I am confident that our plan will wreak havoc upon the Sordoans. I have made a slight alteration in the plan since we last spoke. I am going to forego the Red Swords on the small ships and leave them in Tagaret with the rest of their men. I will, instead, be taking the Rangers under Lieutenant David Jaynes. It will be half the number of men and allow the small ships to move even faster.”

“And what of Captain Tork?” asked General Clark.

Colonel Gregor cleared his throat. “General, Alexander Tork and ten of his Rangers are going to attack Trekum, the capital of Sordoa.”

General Clark stared at the Colonel as if he had lost his mind. “You can’t be serious?”

“Well, actually, he may have the help of the rest of his Rangers if they return from their cruise with Admiral Hill, but, yes, General, I’m serious. He is already on his way.”

“Well, may the gods be with him,” remarked General Clark. “He is going to need their help.”

John Secor waited to speak with the Sultan Awa’ri. He had been waiting for days and spent his time painting. The Palace guards were very polite to him and allowed him to paint anything he wanted. They actually enjoyed watching him work and tried to buy his paintings, but John told them they were for his personal remembrance of the trip. The Sultan was obviously putting him off, but John did not mind. It was quite pleasant in the Palace. The breeze from the Sordoa Sea regularly swept through the open Palace and cooled the heat of the hot summer sun. Beautiful women continually served refreshments. John could see their beauty even though light veils hid their faces.

John had been given a room in the Palace for his use during the stay and he rose before sunrise and painted until sunset. He periodically took his paintings to the shipping depot to have them sent home. Today he was painting the garden in the far southeastern corner of the Palace. It was a beautiful location and John loved working in the fragrant, lush flowerbed. John had the flower garden completed within a half hour and went to find another site for a picture he desired to paint.

Admiral Raymond Hill stood on the deck of the
Cutlass
watching his small, hastily converted fleet leave Tagaret Harbor. Seven galleons and six of Oscar’s small frigates had been appropriated from the merchant fleets of Targa and were heading out to do battle with the large Sordoan fleet. Fifty Ranger archers accompanied each of the frigates and each galleon had a company of one hundred Red Swords.

The forty galleons of the Sordoan fleet were gathered around Melbin, ready to repulse a Targan attack on the Sordoan held city. Admiral Hill’s plan called for separating the Sordoan fleet into smaller groups that could be attacked without the enormous odds of engaging the whole fleet. The six Ranger frigates struck off on a southeasterly course heading for the safety of the Pebble Islands, while the seven galleons lumbered along southward.

The scout galloped through the southern gate of the fort. He rode up to the Commander’s Office and dismounted. A Corporal led his horse away as he entered the office. “Sir, they are about five miles south. They should be here mid-morning.” He turned and left to catch some sleep. Tomorrow the battle of Southland would begin.

The Sordoans were pulling their siege machines forward when the cavalry attack hit them. Since sunrise the Targans had hit them with harassing raids all along the line. The mounted soldiers charged the line tangentially and hurled jars of Fire Glue at the siege machines then quickly retreated. Several of the catapults burst into flames, but they could be replaced. It would cost the Sordoans only a little more time.

The Sordoan plan had been to encircle the fortress as had been done in Melbin, but every time the flanks moved to the east or west, the Targans launched an attack at the center. The Sordoan flanks were pulled towards the center to repel the attack and the Targans retreated. The Sordoans would chase the retreating men until the Targan catapults and arrows started flying towards them, then they would pull back and reform their line.

The city of Southland had been evacuated and the fortress was well stocked. The stores would be torched when the Targans left. Reports indicated that the third Sordoan division had stalled and was awaiting an indication of the battle results from Southland. Every day’s delay brought the northern Targa forces closer to the battlefield. The Targans continued to toy with the superior Sordoan army until the day arrived when they were to leave.

The first of the Targan galleons sailed southward just east of the Sordoan fleet at Melbin. It made as if it were going to continue south into Sordoan waters until four Sordoan warships broke off from their main fleet and sailed eastward to intercept the lone Targan vessel. The Targan galleon turned eastward, attempting to outrun the Sordoan ships. The remaining Targan galleons were still over the horizon waiting their turn to run the gauntlet.

The Targan galleon led the four enemy ships into the night and the next morning showed the Sordoan vessels gaining slightly. Off to port of the Targan galleon was the northernmost island of the Pebble Islands. The Targan galleon headed for the strait between the two northernmost islands where the small Sordoan fleet was scheduled to meet its fate. The six Targan frigates were sheltered in coves of the Pebble Islands awaiting the coming confrontation.

As the last of the four Sordoan galleons cleared the strait, the six Targan frigates commenced their attack. Sweeping in, three to a side, the small, fast frigates darted among the large galleons unleashing their deadly loads of Fire Glue. As the Sordoan Galleons burned, the Targan galleon turned northward to take its place at the end of the queue of Targan galleons north of Melbin. The Targan galleons would continue taking turns at leading the Sordoan vessels to the Pebble Islands until the Sordoans forced a change in the game plan. Already, another Targan galleon was leading four more Sordoans towards the Pebble islands.

The Marchek Shipping Company frigate entered the mouth of the Pia River in Lanoir. Alex and ten Rangers, including Lieutenant Mitar Vidson, lay on the deck sleeping. The ship continued up the Pia River to just below Quesig. There the Rangers departed and headed overland towards the Southern Mountains, which formed the border between Lanoir and Sordoa. They climbed up into the peaks and headed southeast towards the Korin Pass. Once they entered Sordoa, the only way they would leave alive is if they managed to get to Trekum undetected and carry out their mission.

Targans began leaving Southland shortly after nightfall, heading northwest. Several hours before dawn, all of the abandoned supplies were piled in the center of the courtyard so that the walls of the fort would not be damaged when they were ignited. The Garrison Commander was the last to leave and he joyfully tossed a jar of Fire Glue onto the heap of supplies.

The Sordoans saw the mounting flames and shouts echoed through their campsites. The Sordoans sent a scouting party forward and they were amazed to find the fortress empty. The Sordoans cheered and in the morning moved forward and occupied the fort. A messenger was sent to the third division and the column started moving westward again.

It wasn’t long before the Danver Shores contingent was within sight of the Southland fortress. The group at Cleb started following the river downstream. The Southland contingent would be ferried downstream on barges and the two forces would join up well east of Dalek.

The third division of Sordoans turned northwest a little sooner than expected to gain the coolness of the forest. The change in Sordoan plans had no effect on the Targans, whose trap was already set.

Twenty Sordoan galleons lay on the bottom of the sea east of the Pebble Islands. The Sordoan Admiral became concerned with his diminishing fleet and started stringing his ships out in a long line to the east. The next Targan galleon to come over the horizon was troubled to see Sordoan ships to his southeast. He immediately turned eastward and paralleled the Sordoan line. The other waiting Targan galleons saw his maneuver and also headed east to join with him. When the Sordoan Navy saw seven Targan galleons, the entire Sordoan fleet gave chase. The Sordoan Navy forced the Targan galleons to proceed north of the northernmost of the Pebble Islands. They rounded the island and headed southeast. When they came even with the second Pebble Island, they turned around and prepared to battle.

When the Sordoan Navy paired off to attack the Targan galleons, the Targan frigates attacked. By the time the two groups of galleons were close enough to each other to utilize their catapults, half of the remaining Sordoan fleet was burning. The frigates continued to dart in and out of the Sordoan fleet, setting ships ablaze. When the fighting stopped, one Targan galleon had joined the forty Sordoan ships at the bottom of the sea.

When the Sordoan third division was still a day east of Dalek, they sighted the campfires of thousands of men. Sergeant Todd Racor had ordered the small Dalek force to create a campfire for each man, so two thousand campfires dotted the Sordoan’s western horizon. To the east of the Sordoans, six thousand men lay quietly in the woods, waiting for the Sordoans to commit themselves.

As soon as the Sordoans broke camp in the morning and started marching west, they were attacked from the rear. The well-seasoned reserves at the rear end of the Sordoan column took the brunt of the surprise attack, and pandemonium reigned in the Sordoan ranks. When they turned to defend themselves, the Dalek contingent attacked. It mattered little to the Sordoans that the Dalek contingent was only two thousand men, their ranks were broken and their cohesiveness destroyed.

Eight thousand Targans tore into the Sordoan army. The Sordoans tried to flee southward, but escape was futile. In four hours it was all over. A couple of stragglers managed to escape to the south and five hundred of the Sordoans surrendered. The rest were dead.

The Dalek contingent returned to Dalek with the prisoners and the rest of the Targan Army turned eastward towards Southland. The Southland fortress had no supplies and it was about to be surrounded by nine thousand Targans.

Alex and his Rangers skirted around the Sordoan city of Korin and reached the Toulane River. There they paused to build two crude rafts. They constructed a lean-to on each raft and wearing Sordoan mountain garb, headed downstream towards Trekum.

The six Targan frigates returned to Tagaret and unloaded the Rangers. The Red Swords at Tagaret headed south to Melbin, while the six remaining Targan galleons approached Melbin from the sea. The Sordoan advance had been stopped and their main goal denied, but the enemy still held two important Targan cities.

The Rangers removed their gear from the rafts and broke up the crude river vessels. They let the debris drift downstream to the ocean. Under the cover of darkness they stole through the streets of Trekum towards the Continental Shipping Company warehouse. Unlike the southern countryside, army troops were quite evident here in Sordoa’s capital and their short trip to the warehouse took considerable time.

Alex knocked on the door of the warehouse and drew up short when he looked into the face of the one who opened the door. Quickly recovering, Alex waved his men inside and closed the door. “Eddie, what are you doing here?”

“It is a long story, Alex,” Eddie replied. “Laman sent me north to look for you and warn you that the Army was after you. I ran into one of Larc’s men and after he realized who I was and where I was from, he took me with him. He explained that you were safe and already knew about the warrant.”

Eddie pulled Alex off to the side while the other Rangers were getting set to catch some sleep. “Anyway,” Eddie continued, “this guy started asking me all sorts of questions about myself. Well, to shorten the story, I ended up joining the Spiders. Larc sent me down here to learn the Sordoan language, then I received word that you would be coming. The message didn’t say when, just that you would be picking up a package here and that I was to extend whatever assistance I could.”